


The Price of Redemption

by JaybieJarrett



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Afterlife, Bullying, Haunting, Multi, Redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 11:52:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9233945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaybieJarrett/pseuds/JaybieJarrett
Summary: In order to avoid hell, Heather Chandler has to do something to help someone.  She is ‘assigned’ to a bullied girl who was born right at the time she died.. The only complication?  The girl is a witch living in a suburban small town.  Heather doesn’t know what she do to help this girl who doesn’t seem very interested in her help.





	1. Hell

Heather eventually moved on from haunting Veronica Sawyer.  There wasn’t much else to be done, it seemed like Westerberg High was doing well after she left.  It ate at her, although she would never admit that it ate at her to see how the school was so much better off without her.  She watched Veronica go to college and felt jealous.   _So_ jealous in fact, that she couldn’t even stick to her plan to haunt Veronica so much she’d fail. 

Then again it wouldn’t work with Veronica seeing a therapist lately.  She was making peace with the fact that she killed her.  Heather hated it.  She wanted Veronica to be haunted by it.  She killed her.  She murdered her.  What right did she have to move on?

But she couldn’t stand being around Veronica, she got to live.  Kurt and Ram stuck around a little longer, mostly to ‘check out the college girls’.

“You’re gay remember?”

“Shut up, Heather!”

“You’re such a _bitch_ ”

“Grow up”   Heather made her way off to another room. Once they ‘moved on’ they were stuck in what seemed to be Purgatory.  Which was an empty college with only them. She wasn’t sure if this was hell or not sometimes.  The solitude could be maddening. And sometimes it was her only reprieve from having Kurt and Ram for company.  Sometimes she would read.  In fact she’d been doing that alot lately.  There was no nerds to pick on, no Duke and McNamara to be better than.  She hated to admit it but books were starting to be preferable.

Oh God.

_ She was a nerd _ .

This truly was hell. 

It was after a bout of sulking in boredom and frustration that she was called to the office,

Wait...this place had staff?  

“Ohhhhh Heather’s in trouble!” 

“SHUT UP” Heather snapped, silencing them instantly.  She found her way through the halls til she got to student services. “Heather Mary Chandler.  Follow me”  The woman who met with her was a dark haired woman in red glasses and dress pants who looked, oddly authoritative and gave off an air of authority.

Normally adults didn’t phase her.  She was Heather Chandler , she could do what she wanted.  But something about this one made her uneasy.  Heather followed, internally seething. She was led to an office with a chair in front of the desk and a computer.  Wait there were working computers here?  All the ones she found seemed to just be there for looks.  

“Sit down.”

“You could say please” Heather muttered sitting down.  

“You’re welcome.” The woman said coolly.  She sat down behind the desk and took out a file folder.”Now Miss Chandler.   I’ve been reading your file here”

“My file?”  

“Yes.  An account of your life and all the people you helped and hurt.  I have to say, a lot of it is very disappointing.  Past the age of about seven, you seem to only have helped yourself at the cost of everyone else. And by middle school you were actively tormenting everyone else for the sake of popularity. Did you not tell Martha Dunstock that her mother couldn’t love her in 7th grade?” 

"It was a joke.”

“Really now?  What was the punchline?” The woman’s face looked disarmingly neutral. 

“.....It...I didn’t mean it okay” The woman raised an eyebrow.

“You sure seem to have meant it. For the next 5 years you’ve been calling her Martha Dumptruck.  Why?”  

“...” Heather paused.  She didn’t expect to be asked that. 

“...she was fat.  And weird.  And, ugh, dressed like an 8 year old in high school.”  Heather rolled her eyes.

“So?  That doesn’t matter” the woman said.

“Can we skip the lecture and get to the other sins” Heather sighed.  

“.....other sins?  This is what we’re here to talk about.  Don’t change the subject.” 

“....are you serious right now?”Heather said. “You’re not going to talk to me about, cheating on tests, stealing Dad’s card and having sex?”

“The cheating and stealing ties into the central problem of your selfishness. We don’t really care who you’ve had sex with, though I am a bit alarmed that you’ve done all this at...seventeen?”

“Eighteen”  Heather corrected, “and I am NOT selfish!”

“Well my record seems to indicate otherwise. You’ve been nothing but selfish for years.  I mean, I will admit you were a teenager and your judgement wasn’t at its best yet”

“EXCUSE ME”  Heather said, getting up , “Are you calling me  _ stupid _ ??” The woman didn’t even flinch.

“No more than your peers.  Please lower your voice Miss Chandler.” She said. “You should be very grateful to be so young, as you would be judged much harshly if you behaved this way as an adult-”

“Judged?  Excuse me?” Heather demanded. “Why am I being judged?  I’m a murder victim!  Veronica Sawyer killed me! Isn’t  _ she _ getting judged?”

“She will be judged when she is here, but we are talking about you right now.  And if I recall correctly you humiliated her in front of her boyfriend and then told her you had no intention of letting up on your planned revenge scheme.   I think you should think twice about messing with someone after asking them to make you a drink alone in the kitchen”  The woman raised an eyebrow and Heather swore she must have been hiding a smirk. Heather glared back at her.

“So wow, you’re telling me I should be nice to people or they might poison me?”

“I’m only making a suggestion for your continued survival. But that is no matter now”   She set down the folder.  “I’m going to be honest. If you were an adult you’d probably be going to hell”

“WHAT!”

“Please lower your voice.  Like I said.  If you were an adult you’d be going to hell.  Generally the older you are the less lenient your sentence is”

“My...my sentence?”

"Yes. Seeing as you’re a teenager I believe that there’s still a chance that you can grow.  If you want to avoid being sent to hell, you have to help someone and pay back for the wrongs and acts of bullying you committed in your life.  It won’t be a simple task, mind.  There’s no hand holding and no checklists of good deeds.  Being a good person is more than doing deeds for show.  I’ve seen some of the worst people come through here who thought that donating to charity and going to church on sunday would absolve them.”

“So...how do I know when I’ve done it?  Will it be a happy feeling inside me, or a heavenly chorus from above”

“You’ll know.  I can’t tell you how but you’ll know”

“You’re useful” Heather snorted.

“Well I’m the reason you’re not in hell right now Miss Chandler”  the woman said. “Now.  Your assignment”

“Assignment?”  Heather asked, “let me guess I’m going to be assigned to make some fat nerd happy?”

“Not...quite.”  The woman put a file on the table.  “Chase Brewer. Graduated high school in 2008.  Homeschooled in high school after a mental break down in middle school.”

“Oh...wait..graduated?” Heather asked. “Why can’t she just get a therapist or something.”

“You don’t think she has?”

“....well then what the hell am I supposed to do?”  

“You’ll figure it out.” The woman said. “And by the way.  I think I should tell you.  Chase is a witch, born to nonmagic parents.”

“....what?”  Heather asked.  

“She’s a witch.  She can pose no harm to you of course.  But I thought I’d save you the surprise.”  The woman said, handing her a keyring that looked a lot like her red scrunchie with a couple keys on it and the file on Chase Brewer. “You’ll need this to leave the premises and return when you need a break.  Purgatory is always open to you while you’re doing this assignment.  Consider this your final exam, in the most literal sense of the word.”

“Oh ha ha” Heather huffed taking the keyring and putting it around her wrist.

“You may go.”  Heather got up and walked out.

“Heather?  I should tell you that pulling your bullying stunts will get you brought back here and it will not be pretty.  Your afterlife hinges on your ability to...forgive my language but..not be a self absorbed bitch.  You may go”   Heather was seething as she walked out. Seething...and  _ afraid _ .

For the first time an authority figure had power over Heather Chandler in years.   


	2. Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heather meets Chase Brewer and starts to realize how hard this is going to be.

Heather spent some time in her ‘dorm’ reading the file she’d been given on this girl.  She was in her twenties, lived with Mom and Dad, and worked in a mailroom. Seemed pretty normal for a witch. She lived in South Carolina near Myrtle Beach. 

‘Witch living in the south’ Heather thought. Must be  _ fun _

Then she saw something else in the file.

_ Sexual Preference: Lesbian _

What?   _ What? _

They were sticking her with a  _ lesbian _ ? 

Heather held back her urge to scream in rage. How could they? She wanted to storm right in that office and demand a change.  But then she remembered the woman’s words. 

‘ _ I’m the reason you’re not in hell right now _ ’ 

Right.  She was screwed.  Heather sighed and continued reading the file. Something caught her attention when looking at the birth date. October 1989.  

This girl was born a few weeks after she died.   Well.  That was interesting. It seemed very weird to think about for some reason. Someone starting their life right after hers ended.  Why? She couldn’t say.   But it was strange somehow. 

She noticed something else.  “Has attempted suicide twice”  

Oh God, Heather started imagining what she might have to deal with.  A suicidal lesbian witch.  Well, might as well get this over with.   She got up and got ready to go.  She wasn’t told any particular place to go, except leaving the campus.  She made her way off the campus hoping to avoid any places she figured Kurt and Ram would be.  Why couldn’t this girl be assigned to one of them?

She knew the answer to that.   _ She _ wouldn’t assign Kurt and Ram to any girl, that was far too much temptation for them. And far too cruel to any girl. She wondered what they might be assigned to do.  Or did she get the harshest sentence?

She shoved open a pair of doors and walked right into a suburban neighborhood  drawn toward a particular house at the cul de sac.     


“Eugh the  _ suburbs _ ” Heather thought to herself looking around.  Some little kid was riding around in a giant Barbie jeep with a boy chasing after her.  So this was the future, she thought remembering the dates in the file.  It looked….very ordinary.  Certainly nothing that movies would portray the future as.   She walked by and nobody in the street seemed to notice.  The house she was drawn to was normal looking. A porch, a two car garage with some kind of mutated minivan and a sports car.  

A couple of adults were outside talking with the neighbors.  Heather ventured inside the house, walking right through the front door like it was nothing.  The inside was more of the same. Living room, big screen TV, a bowl of fake fruit on the island counter.   She started to wonder if the woman from earlier had been entirely truthful.   

There was a door near the stairwell and Heather opened it, seeing a set of stairs downward.  “You better not have been pulling my -AHH”  as she went down the final step to the basement she saw an item, a book, floating by itself into a room. She shook off her feeling of shock and followed it.  

She heard music playing as she entered a cluttered room. There was a tall pile of clothes near the door and it took Heather a moment to realize there was a hamper underneath.  The bed was unmade. And in the corner of the room at a desk was a young woman with light brown hair holding out a wooden rod that the book gravitated to.  She caught the book in midair and stashed the rod away.  

Only two words were blaring in Heather’s mind right now.  _ Holy. Shit. _

Chase was an average looking girl, maybe a bit on the pudgy side.  Her short and slightly mussed brown hair had a headband hidden in it..She dressed in baggy cargo pants and a t-shirt with some kind of cartoon creature on it.  Her arms weren’t covered in slashes as Heather expected, just plain freckly skin.  She didn’t wear black, in fact her headband had bright warm colors and sparkles.  She pored over the book in her hand before turning back to her computer screen and getting to work.  She used some kind of slate and pen to draw on making the cursor on the computer screen move, A crumpled can of Mountain Dew sat on the desk, and the trash can was filled with more of them. 

Chase moved back from her computer sighing and letting out a frustrated cry.  “Fuck you” She glared at the screen of the computer.  “I know you can do better than this, ...piece of shit.”  

“You could stand to let some light in this cave” Heather commented looking around. Chase jumped and turned around.

“Who the hell are you?”  she asked, eyes wide.  “......pretty well dressed for a break in.”  . 

“None of this shit will do me any good” Heather said plainly. “I’m dead”

“So….you’re a ghost” Chase said, still staring at her.

“...I guess” Heather shrugged, “I’ve been stuck with you in  order to avoid being sent to hell.  I have no idea what I’m supposed to do here, they weren’t very helpful.”

“....I didn’t realize it worked that way” Chase said.

“Believe me neither did I” Heather sighed and took a seat on the bed. 

“So...who are you?”

“Heather Chandler.  I died of poisoning right before you were born” Heather said. 

“Oh I’m...I’m... sorry” Chase said.  “That must suck.   


“Oh it did.  I had a killer hangover and was drinking what I thought was a cure one moment, and choking on drain cleaner the next” Chase raised an eyebrow. 

“Don’t you keep any bezoars around?”  She asked.

“What the hell is a bezoar?” Heather asked, “and why would I have one around?”

“It's a stone from the stomach of a goat” Chase swirled around in her chair. “Cures most poisons.”

“And  _ why _ would I have that in my house?” Heather asked impatiently.

“Um…..aren’t you...you know...a witch?”  Chase asked.

“No, I’m not. Though many people might say I was something that rhymed with it”

“...oh that’s...weird. Usually only witches and wizards become ghosts.”  Chase said tapping a finger to her chin.  

“Well I guess I’m not one” Heather rolled her eyes.  “Thanks for the tip though.”

“Your welcome.  Thanks for the attitude.”  Chase crossed her arms. “So...you’re here to avoid hell.  But you don’t know  _ why  _ or what to do?”

“Exactly.  I think I’m supposed to help you or something to pay back for my wrongs while I was alive” Heather said with a roll of her eyes. 

“Well I don’t  _ need  _ any help” Chase said. “I have some SSRIs and potions for that.”

“SS...what?” Heather asked.

“Medications”  Chase turned back to her computer. “You know.  Drugs.”  

“Lucky you.” Heather said. “Unfortunately for you, I’m not going away until I find something I can do because I am  _ not _ going to hell.  Believe me I’m not thrilled either”

“Oh.  Joy”  Chase groaned. “Because that’s exactly what I need something else to make me look crazy.”  She returned to sketching on the computer. 

“It’s my pleasure”  Heather said before turning to look around her room. “So...where do you go to school for that ...wand waving thing.”

“Magic?  There’s a fancy school for it in Canada.  Though I went to some district center in Virginia and learned out of special books from some fancy book store.”   Chase said.  “I haven't done school with other students since middle school”

“Oh really?  Is there something you’re afraid of back there?  Too scared to go back?” Heather asked. Chase stared at her looking both angry and afraid.

“My magic went out of control and I knocked  _ three students _ out, that’s what” She said. “I can’t do it. It’s too dangerous.  Imagine if I went full on Carrie on them? I’d be a murderer!” She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Right now you’re doing the  _ opposite _ of helping me.”  She pulled out her wand and flicked it. “Accio Mountain Dew”  A can of soda floated up and flew right over to her.  She snapped it open and took a gulp. 

Heather rolled her eyes.  “You know you could be invincible.  Nobody’s going to touch you if they know you can just knock them out.”

“I don’t want to be invincible.  I want to be left alone.” Chase said sipping her drink.  Heather was momentarily reminded of Veronica’s request when they first met.

“Please honey.  You get a taste of power and you won’t want to let it go.” 

“Listen  _ honey _ ” Chase spun around on her chair pulling out her wand and pointing it at Heather. “You don’t know what I want, so don’t act like you do. Allright?” 

“Looks like I touched a nerve.” Heather said. “Fine. You don’t like school. Got it . So...what do you do for fun?:

“You’re looking at it” Chase said. “Art” 

“So you just sit at your computer all day?”

“Pretty much” Chase said, “So...can you eat or anything like that?”

“I don’t really need to, no” Heather said.    


“Oh…”  Chase said. “I had some chips…but..oh well” Heather glanced around the room.  It was fairly dark with a lamp in one corner. There was a mini fridge with a couple of soda bottles. She walked over to the closet and looked through it. All cargo pants and jeans. 

“Do you have  _ any _ skirts?”

“Nah.  Don’t do skirts.  I hate the feeling of my legs rubbing together.:” Chase said with a shudder. Heather spotted a thing in the corner of the closet. What looked like a guitar case.

“You play guitar?”  She asked, surprised picking it up and unlatching it. 

“Nope” What looked like a skateboard without wheels and a strangely designed broom fell out. The broom’s design didn’t look like any help for sweeping the floor in fact it looked designed almost like it was for …

“You’ve  _ got _ to be kidding me” Heather said.  “You fly on brooms?”

“Yup” Chase smirked. “I prefer using the hoverboard there Or just pop in and out.” She made a pop sound and smiled. “Magic teleportation biatch. Pop!”

“What about a car?” Heather asked. Chase tapped her glasses. 

“I can’t get a license. For multiple reasons” she said.”Besides.  Who wants to risk driving around in an expensive 2000 pound murder machine when there’s an easier way?”  

“Well, we have to get you to the mall.  You could be doing so much better with your looks”  Heather said.  “I would treat you but I’m dead so…what's that look for?”  

“Is that what you think will help?  Some big movie makeover where you show me how pretty I am and suddenly I’m all better because I see how beautiful I am?” she asked with mocking sarcasm.  “No thanks.  I like the way I look. And I don’t think whoever sent you will let you get off with a makeover.” 

“Geez I’m just trying to help” Heather scoffed.  

“Did you miss the part where I didn’t ask?” Chase asked. “I don’t need this…” 

‘ _ Neither do I _ ’ Heather thought.  This wasn’t going the way she planned.  


End file.
